Sunday, May 16, 2010

Sunday Mind Dump - May 16, 2010

Simply a good day at PCC. I felt as relaxed and comfortable as I have in a very long time.

It started raining and the bottom fell out right at service time. I knew it would affect attendance – and it did, we were off a bit – but for the first time I said, “I’m okay with that.”

The message felt good. I really enjoyed the section of scripture that talked about the eternal nature of God and why He (seemingly) delays His coming – so that more might be saved.

If Jesus had returned ten years ago, many of the people sitting in church this morning would have missed salvation and died lost.

If Jesus returns tomorrow, many of the people you know and love will miss salvation and die lost. Everyday that God delays His return is another day of mercy extended to mankind.

We experimented with a few changes in the order of service, and it worked pretty well for our first time. I think I need to do better job of receiving the offering at the new place, and a better job at extending an invitation at the end. All in all, I liked the “feel” and we got some positive feedback in both services.

No, there have been no death threats to me. We have, however, increased our security measures at PCC to be proactive. It’s a dangerous world today and churches are soft targets for kooks. It is becoming increasingly common to hear of some wacko enter a church service with a firearm and kill 3-4 people before he is stopped. We have placed this matter high on our priority list.

No, Renae is not leaving the youth department. She is simply taking a four-week break on Wednesday nights. She has been at the helm for the last few years, combined with her other responsibilities at PCC, and right now it a good time to take a short breather before Student Camp. By taking a step back, others are stepping up. As a result, when she returns, she won’t have to step so far back in. Get it?

In the interest of full disclosure, I will say that other changes might be taking place. We are evaluating everything; the way that we do things, why we do them a certain way, and discussing what we can to work smarter – not harder.

I have written about this recently. You can read about it here: “When the Game Plan Changes.” This will give you an idea. We have to change our game plan, and indeed we are.

You can also read “Around PCC” for some other information about changes.

In time, my role at PCC will change significantly. To begin with, and most noticeable to all, will be changes in my visibility on the stage. I will still welcome guests and preach, but not much else. Others will conduct the call to worship, meet & greet, etc. Soon we should have another up-front man to take care of these tasks. I might even minimize my guitar playing to ½ the time too.

A group of workers and parents for the middle school aged teens stayed back after church today for a meeting. They shared a meal, had fellowship, and did some planning. Glad to see this happen.

I think I am going to watch the new movie “Robin Hood” starring Russell Crowe. He did an exceptional job in the movie “Gladiator” – so I’m hopeful that this new movie will be more of the same. I’m in the mood for looking for some Alpha male type action.

I used to really like the scrappy feel of being a church planter in our early days – i.e., the set up each Sunday, being portable, hauling the equipment back and forth, wondering if anyone is even going to show up each week, the risk and uncertainty of it all. I lived with the possibility of failure every day. And making the changes in today’s service (as well as some other recent changes) has given me that feel of “taking a risk” again. I like it.

Job security is fatal to success.

Playing it safe is fatal to being innovative.

Hoping for a good night of rest. Plan to take a long run in the morning before it gets hot.

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Welcome!

This is my personal blog. I write about making disciples, the local church, the church I pastor, and other related topics. These entries are usually directed to the congregation I lead, hopefully exerting some measure of influence on them, as well as including them with information about the state of our church. In many ways, this is my second pulpit. My blog also includes personal information about myself and family – usually very transparent, and sometimes humorous. Hope you enjoy.